by Eden Beck
“Give her a little time so she can really have some good reasons to hate you,” she continues.
The beautiful boy, Astor, is just about to smart off to her when she holds her hand up in the air, her palm facing him, and shuts him down. She smiles at me instead.
“Hey! I’m Victoria. As in Queen. You’re new to the turf, so I’m going to help you out. You don’t want to go getting into a fight with the likes of Astor Hawthorne. He thinks he rules this school.”
“I do rule it!” he fires at her bitterly.
Victoria rolls her eyes and slips her hand into the crook of my arm, steering me away from him.
She looks over her shoulder and calls back, “Just because your family founded it almost a century ago doesn’t make it yours, Astor.”
“It sure as hell does! It’s called a legacy, Victoria! You’d know that if you had one!” he growls irritably at her, but we’re already leaving the hall and walking into class. Dana is nowhere to be seen. She must have fled when I wasn’t paying attention. Good to know I can’t count on her if the going gets rough.
Yet another reason to befriend someone with a little more … spirit.
“Hey, thanks. That was surprisingly … nice.”
I stop Victoria before she drags me into the classroom. She might be exactly what I’m looking for. She’s practically perfect, with dark hair and dark eyes framed with thick, equally dark lashes. I normally can’t stand preppy girls, but I’m going to have to suck it up and just be friends with her. I’m sure there’s something about her that I can like, if I look hard enough.
“No worries!” she bubbles back at me, sitting me down beside her at the back of the classroom. “Astor is a jackass and he needs to be reminded of it once in a while. I’ve got your back, sister.”
She brushes a long strand of hair off her shoulder as she gives me a quick once-over. “I don’t even know your name yet … but I can already tell we’re going to be good friends.”
I might have made some enemies … but it looks like I’ve just made an equally powerful ally. I’ve seen it happen before in every other school I’ve ever been to, except never to me, until now. One word from a popular girl, and suddenly you’re in. It’s surreal to me, and I can feel that I’m hungry for it. This is exactly what I need to happen.
“Thanks!” I smile brightly at her and try to channel Sadie’s obnoxious perky cheerleader spirit. “I’m Sadie White.”
“Sadie.” She rolls the name over on her tongue. “Sexy Sadie. We’re going to have so much fun!”
Victoria looks sure of herself as the rest of the students come into class, all of them taking notice of me either with a subtle glance or a full on stare. She scoots her chair subtly closer to me when Astor follows us in, pausing at the door to narrow his gaze at me, and I can tell she’s liking the extra attention. If it were up to me, she could have it all.
I know it’s going to be like this for at least the first week, but I can’t wait for that ‘new girl shine’ to wear off so I can just be left alone. The more eyes on me, the more likely I am to slip up.
There’s something about Victoria that just drips ‘fake girl’, and my vibes about people are rarely wrong, but she seems harmless enough. I’m off to a rocky start for my first hour on the first day, but I’m here, and by god I’m going to make it work, no matter how I have to do it.
Chapter 5
I get through English Lit with homework to study and a paper on Romeo and Juliet to write. Why high schools foist that old love story on all of their students every year in every place is beyond me. It’s such an unrealistic story, and I can’t see the romance in it at all … especially the fourth or fifth time around.
I take a seat in remedial algebra and just as I do, I see a gorgeous boy staring at me. He turns away the moment my eyes meet his, and he scowls darkly. He could be Astor’s brother, almost. He’s certainly as beautiful as Astor, though his jaw is sharper, and his eyes are a little darker and blue; the color of a storm-tossed sea. He has longer blonde hair and his body is much more muscular than any of the boys I’ve seen yet in school. It’s clear to me right away that he’s a jock, which leaves no surprise in my mind that he’s in remedial math.
I also think I recognize him from earlier. He was one of the boys bullying Thomas in the hall. That would explain that sour look on his face.
When I say my name during attendance everyone in the room turns to look at me. I’m sure that by now, my mouthy retort to Astor that morning has already made the rounds. News like that spreads before the thing in question even actually happens.
The teacher gets to the name ‘William Stryker’, and the pretty boy looks up in irritation at the teacher.
“It’s Wills,” he corrects coldly.
I wonder what his problem is. He probably would rather be out on the green kicking a ball somewhere then trapped inside, but I suppose only time will tell.
For the duration of class he keeps his head turned away from me; his eyes locked on anything he can possibly find going on outside the window of the classroom. It’s actually a pretty impressive feat that he doesn’t look back at me once, especially since there’s only six of us here and the teacher has had us all pull our chairs into an intervention-style circle.
It’s no skin off my back. I don’t care if Wills likes me or not. That doesn’t stop me from admiring the way the light catches in his hair, just for a second.
After class I’m off to biology and I’m glad to see that Dana is in the class with me. She’s a friendly face in a sea of stares and curious eyes.
“So …” I say, “What happened to you back there? You left me to be eaten alive by those boys.”
Her face whitens. “I’m s—sorry. I don’t like confrontation.”
The girl looks like she’s about to burst into tears, so I reach over and awkwardly pat her on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry. Aside from that mess in the hall this morning with Astor Hawthorne, everything seems to be going okay.”
Dana looks relieved, and I don’t bring it up again until we’re already at lunch after class. It takes everything for me to keep my composure at the sight of all the food. I have to remind myself that endless tacos are just a fact of life for these kids, not a novelty. Still … it’s going to be serious work not to balloon up with all this food suddenly readily available.
Dana, on the other hand, just keeps picking at her food until I ask her what’s up.
Her face turns pink. “Oh nothing I …” she pauses, then blurts out, “That girl who saved you this morning, Victoria … she didn’t happen to mention me, did she?”
“Why would …” I stop to think for a moment, and Dana fills the silence with a string of words stumbling over each other.
“She’s the most popular girl in the school, but she wasn’t always. We used to be friends, not that you’d know it now.”
That’s too true. Dana and Victoria, as little as I know either of them, are opposites in the social hierarchy of these kinds of places. If they were friends once, then Victoria would likely never admit it … and I think Dana should know that.
I give her a close look. She keeps babbling on about Victoria until it dawns on me like a sunrise, becoming much clearer with every passing second. This is more than just an obsession over a lost friend.
“You … you like her, don’t you!”
Dana is stunned. She gapes at me, mouth open and working like a goldfish.
“What? No!”
“Uh huh.” I point the shattered corn taco shell at her. “You’ve got a crush on her. A bad one too, from the looks of it.”
Dana looks a little embarrassed, but this time she doesn’t deny it. She just covers her face with her hands.
“Is it that obvious?”
I shrug. “I’m good at reading people. I don’t think it’s that obvious.”
My first lie in a while. I don’t want to make her feel bad.
“Well, it doesn’t matter anyway. She wants nothing to do
with me anymore … and I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon.”
I cringe inside, and I know it shows on the outside.
“Sorry, that has to suck. I’m sure she doesn’t make it easy with the whole … this … thing.” I mimic the way she tosses her hair over her shoulder, and Dana lets out a loud sigh.
“Tell me about it.”
“You can do better,” I say. “Perfect people like her don’t have much room for losers like us.”
Dana snorts, nearly inhaling the tomato she was chewing. “Easy for you to say. She seems to actually like you … and that doesn’t happen often.” She purses her lips a second, and then blurts out, “she’s not as perfect as she wants people to think. I’m pretty sure her dad knocked up the maid.”
As soon as it’s out of her mouth, her hands fly to cover the bottom half of her face. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Just remind me not to tell you any secrets,” I say, and chuckle.
Now that one secret is out, the rest just comes out like a flood. She’s talking so fast I can barely keep up. So much for thinking she was the quiet type.
“… if she could just see how I want to help her. I know her better than anyone here. I just want to love her, but she just wants to deny it all.”
I felt a twinge of sympathy upon hearing Victoria’s story, but even more hearing the way Dana talks about her. Sounds to me like Victoria isn’t the only one in denial, but I don’t know Dana well enough yet to tell her that.
Turns out that Dana’s inside knowledge extends well beyond the inner workings of her ex-best-friend Victoria’s life. She knows everything about everyone and proceeds to tell me all of it. I knew there would be drama going on in a place like this, but I eventually have to stop her.
“Dana … as much as I would love to know all the details of that random guy’s hookup last year with the old Drama teacher … but I’d rather hear about someone else.”
My eyes scan the crowd, looking for a pair of cruel eyes looking back, and find none.
I make sure I ask in a nonchalant way, but I really want to know. “Victoria said this morning that Astor’s family founded the school. Is that true?”
If it is, then that means he’s going to have a lot more clout and popularity than any of the other boys, and I cringe to think that I blew my first meeting with him. He could really make it hard for me here if he wants to. I saw it with Thomas … and that was just the first day. I’ve already gotten a reputation for standing up for the school’s pariahs.
It’s not a way to make a good first impression with the person who’s responsible for making them pariahs in the first place.
“Yes, and because of it he seems to think it makes him totally immune to the rules here. Even basic human decency rules.” She goes back to picking at the last of her salad. “He’s the poster child for jerks, but Victoria really seems to like him. I don’t know what it is she sees in him. But then again … I don’t know what I thought she’d see in me.”
She mutters the last part to herself.
This strikes me more than it should. All my life, even before Ms. Martin, I’ve been told I would never amount to anything. I’ll wind up homeless and in the gutter. I don’t have a brain in my head. I’m nothing at all, and I’ll never be anything but nothing.
I know how it feels to have all the odds stacked against you.
Yet here I am. I’ll prove them wrong. And I’m starting with a whole lot less than Dana.
Against my better judgement, I reach across the table and rest a reassuring hand on hers.
“Victoria would be lucky to have you.”
Dana won’t do much to help me socially, but sometimes you can’t help who you end up being friends with. And just like Victoria would be lucky to have her, I think I am too.
Chapter 6
It may still be early September, but the breeze carries a chill across the lake.
This is the closest I’ve ever been to something even remotely similar to an ocean. I’ve never been lucky enough to be placed in a home near a body of water bigger than the local duck pond—also, simultaneously, usually the place where the local druggies go to score meth. Yeah … I’ve been some places. Just not the good ones.
The grass slopes gently down towards a rocky, curved beach. Far up to the north of us on a craggy outcrop is a worn white lighthouse only visible here from the shore. It’s a clear day, warm, sunny, and marked by the soft rhythmic lapping of silver water on the shore.
It’s almost enough to still the racing of my pulse.
The rest of my Phys Ed class is already gathered down by the boathouse. From the lazy way they’re all sprawling out on the beach, I realize most of them probably already know how to sail … or at least got to watch someone else firsthand. I don’t even know if I get seasick. I should have used the White account to buy some Dramamine.
Wills Stryker, the boy from math, is among the students waiting for class to start. He’s in his element here. Cocky. Self-assured. That insecure slump has been replaced with pin-straight posture and muscles coiled for action. The ‘new girl shine’ gets me some looks when I approach, but none strike me more than the way he looks at me.
Everyone else is so easy to read, but not him. He’s not letting out anything that’s going on behind that stare. He’d make a great poker partner.
I match his gaze for a few long moments and he doesn’t flinch or even blink. I don’t want to be the one to look away first, but eventually I have to. If that was some kind of competition, I just lost.
As soon as I break the connection, he lifts his chin and struts over to me with casual purpose. I cross my arms over my chest and look up at him again when he stops a couple of feet from me. He speaks, and his voice is deep and strong.
“New girl.”
I sigh quietly and tilt my head just a little, so he knows he’s trying my patience.
“I have a name,” I say indifferently. The other boys in the class step up behind him, watching him, listening to him, and I realize that I’m not just looking at any jock. This is the top jock of the school. Great.
“You going out for any sports?” He asks it as a challenge, not a question.
I hadn’t given it any thought. I’ve never been one to go out for sports … or anything else extracurricular for that matter. Unless you count minor shoplifting from the local convenience store.
“Should I run it past you first if I do?” I smart off instinctively, and then realize that I’m trying to be Sadie White, not Teddy Price. It was such a Teddy thing to say, and I try to temper my tone a little for whatever comes next.
“Damn straight.” His tone is dripping with arrogance. “This lake … these fields … the courts … they’re my turf. This whole school is my turf. You better remember that.” He reaches a hand forward and flips my long, now bleached-straight hair toward my face. “Blondie.”
If I was still just Teddy, I’d punch him right now. I clench my fists and grit my teeth. It takes everything in me to channel my inner Sadie. What would Sadie say? She’d come back with something shallow and flippant. I can do that.
“Is that supposed to be an insult? You’re blonde too … genius.”
The comment draws snickers from some of the other boys as I walk away. Wills’ cheeks turn pink and his eyes storm at me when I glance back over my shoulder at him. I think that means we’re even now.
The teacher shows up and starts pairing everyone off for our first sailing lesson right away. He takes one look at Wills and the other boys horsing around on the beach and isn’t having any of it. He’s got them split up with new partners faster than any of them can protest—and no surprise, he pairs me up with Wills.
Make sure the new girl doesn’t drown on her first day by pairing her with the swim captain. I guess it makes sense … if the person who’s supposed to take care of me doesn’t already have a problem with me. The carefree look on Wills’ face hardens as he shoves a life preserver into my arms. His hands st
ay clenched to the padding for a moment longer than necessary as he stares me down, willing me without words to try and test him.
As bitter as we are to be sailing partners, Will’s friends seem to have a very different idea about the pair. They keep patting Wills on the butt and winking at me as they pass by on the way to the tiny fleet of sailboats.
Wills hops sure-footedly into the tiny, bobbing boat and immediately starts tying things off. He doesn’t offer to help me in after him, even when it takes me three attempts to find the best way to step down without flashing my underwear under my school uniform. He just glances my way and grunts when the boat tilts under my weight. He’s not going to make this easy.
I try to follow along with the instructor, but Wills is already many steps ahead. He’s already anxiously waiting for the order to untie the boats from the dock while the teacher is still explaining to another girl that yes, she must wear her lifejacket even though it clashes with her uniform.
I tug at the straps on my own jacket. Wills still has his slung over one shoulder, but the teacher says nothing when he passes by. Finally, Wills can wait no longer.
I barely have time to grab onto the side of the boat before it shoots away from the side of the dock, propelled by a powerful kick.
“What are you—"
I’m cut off as Wills barrels past me, pushing me out of the way to make some adjustments to the sails.
The teacher turns back and starts running back towards us, his arms waving over his head. By the time he’s reached the place where our boat was moored, we’re already nearly out of earshot.
The wind whips my hair across my face in stinging tendrils, and little bouts of spray pelt my face with every dip in the water. Wills starts shouting at me to pull this or tighten that, but no matter how quickly I do it I’m apparently never fast enough. It would be exhilarating if he wasn’t constantly swearing and moving over to redo something I apparently did wrong.
